Baseball Rosshttps://baseballross.wordpress.com
Baseball...Calling it as I see it...Tue, 20 Mar 2018 01:38:13 +0000enhourly1http://wordpress.com/https://s2.wp.com/i/buttonw-com.pngBaseball Rosshttps://baseballross.wordpress.com
The Phillies Future Is Now As Darick Hall And Carlos De La Cruz Go Deep In Minor League Spring Training Gameshttps://baseballross.wordpress.com/2018/03/19/the-phillies-future-is-now-as-darick-hall-and-carlos-de-la-cruz-go-deep-in-minor-league-spring-training-games/
https://baseballross.wordpress.com/2018/03/19/the-phillies-future-is-now-as-darick-hall-and-carlos-de-la-cruz-go-deep-in-minor-league-spring-training-games/#respondTue, 20 Mar 2018 00:55:49 +0000http://baseballross.wordpress.com/?p=6062Continue reading →]]>The future is unfolding before our eyes each day at the Carpenter Complex and nothing beats the long ball.

Today we watched first baseman Darick Hall go opposite field as he hit one out to left on Schmidt Field against the Pirates AA team.

Darick Hall

Then outfielder Carlos De La Cruz put one into the trees high over the left field fence on Roberts Field against a team from the Canadian Baseball Academy on its Florida spring training swing.

It is not just the home run that is important to scoring runs. In the same AA game, center fielder Mickey Moniak lined a single to center and was driven in by a line drive triple to center by right fielder Jan Hernandez. Watch HERE.

On the pitching side, Jacob Waguespack finally made his spring training debut. He pitched two innings as the starter against the Canadian team.

Jacob Waguespack

The Phillies minor league players have shown a nice balance of power hitting along with strong pitching in games this spring which will be keys to winning baseball when the minor league season opens next month.

Advertisements

]]>https://baseballross.wordpress.com/2018/03/19/the-phillies-future-is-now-as-darick-hall-and-carlos-de-la-cruz-go-deep-in-minor-league-spring-training-games/feed/0baseballrossLefty Pitchers Kyle Young and Jakob Hernandez and Hitters Jhailyn Ortiz And Grenny Cumana Standout in Phillies Minor League Spring Training Gameshttps://baseballross.wordpress.com/2018/03/18/lefty-pitchers-kyle-young-and-jakob-hernandez-and-hitters-jhailyn-ortiz-and-grenny-cumana-standout-in-phillies-minor-league-spring-training-games/
https://baseballross.wordpress.com/2018/03/18/lefty-pitchers-kyle-young-and-jakob-hernandez-and-hitters-jhailyn-ortiz-and-grenny-cumana-standout-in-phillies-minor-league-spring-training-games/#respondMon, 19 Mar 2018 02:24:53 +0000http://baseballross.wordpress.com/?p=6053Continue reading →]]>This was the second time in Phillies minor league spring training games we have watched the two A ball teams. Each time reliever Jakob Hernandez and second baseman Grenny Cumana stood out.

Hernandez now has struck out eight and not walked a batter or allowed a run in 3.1 innings in the two games we have seen him pitch.

In Sunday afternoon’s game against the high A ball team of the Pittsburgh Pirates, Jakob was just as impressive as he was in the first game we saw him pitch earlier in the week. Watch his four strikeouts from Sunday, HERE.

On of the smallest players at 5′ 5″ Cumana is fighting for a spot on a Phillies minor league team roster when the season opens. Fellow Venezuelan, the Astros Jose Altuve is listed at 5’6″. Grenny is now in his sixth season in the organization and has a career .256 average playing the middle infield positions.

In today’s game Grenny hit a hard ground ball single through the 5-6 hole. I did not need to be told the exit velocity of the hit. It was was one of the hardest ground ball base hits we have seen this spring. Watch HERE.

Kyle Young warming up for today’s start

On the other hand, Kyle Young might be the tallest pitcher ever in pro baseball. He pitched in Williamsport last season going 7-2 and striking out better than a batter and inning. The big question is Kyle 7 foot tall? We think he is!. If not he looks like it when opposing batter face him.

He started the low A game and had a challenging start giving up an opening double by a left-handed hitter down the left field line. After giving up a run in the first inning, he settled in and shutdown the Pirates in his next two innings of his three inning start. He struck out four. Watch one of his strikeouts HERE.

A big international free agent signing back in on Jun 10, of 2015, Jhailyn Ortiz played in only 47 games last season with Williamsport, all in right field. He finished strong hitting .375 in his last ten games for Williamsport. In 2017, Jhailyn was a MILB.com organization All-Star, Baseball America’s Short Season All-Star and a Mid-Season All Star in the New York Penn League.

In Sunday’s high A game he hit a long drive that appeared to be out of Ashburn Field but the wind held it up and the ball hit off the fence for a RBI double. Watch HERE.

Follow the progress of these four guys. It will be interesting to see where they end up in 2018.

Advertisements

]]>https://baseballross.wordpress.com/2018/03/18/lefty-pitchers-kyle-young-and-jakob-hernandez-and-hitters-jhailyn-ortiz-and-grenny-cumana-standout-in-phillies-minor-league-spring-training-games/feed/0baseballrossToday’s Phillies Minor League AAA Game Was About Zach Greenhttps://baseballross.wordpress.com/2018/03/17/todays-phillies-minor-league-aaa-game-was-about-zach-green/
https://baseballross.wordpress.com/2018/03/17/todays-phillies-minor-league-aaa-game-was-about-zach-green/#respondSun, 18 Mar 2018 02:27:25 +0000http://baseballross.wordpress.com/?p=6048Continue reading →]]>The Phillies AAA squad downed the Yankees AAA guys 3-1 on Saturday afternoon thanks to the tw0-run homer by third baseman Zach Green. Green hit tape measure blast over the left centerfield fence out of one of the deepest parts of Ashburn Field. Watch HERE. It was all that the AAA guys needed to dispatch the Yankees.

Zach Green

Green has had a strong spring. It all started when he hit a long home run in the first game of spring training against the University of Tampa over at Spectrum Field. He has continue to hit the ball hard since then when he gets his chances.

Green is now in his seventh season in the Phillies organization. He is just 24-years-old on March 7th and looks ready to have a breakout season after battling the injury bug. He could start the season with AAA Lehigh Valley but since he has played little at AA it looks likely he is in line to be Reading’s opening day third baseman.

His swing is ideally suited for the ballpark in Reading where the wind always seems to be blowing out and the walls are inviting for any hitter who can lift the ball to the outfield. And can Green lift it up high and deep!

Another batter who is hitting well is 2017 Phillies first round draft pick Adam Haseley. He had two RBI hits in today’s AA game. Watch HERE. The left handed hitting Haseley has a line drive swing. In Thursday’s AA game against the Blue Jays. Haseley went 3 for 3 with also two RBIs.

In the AAA game, Jiandido Tromp had a base hit and stole a base to show several of his tool set. Watch his steal of second HERE.

The battle for spots in the Lehigh Valley and Reading bullpen continues. In the AA game Edgar Garcia pitched two shutout innings. Watch a strikeout HERE. In the AAA game, Ranfi Casimiro pitched an inning. Watch a strikeout HERE. Seranthony Dominguez pitched two clean innings. Watch a strikeout HERE.

But the real story in today’s game was the long home run by Zach Green which provided the winning margin in the 3-1 AAA Phillies win.

The youngest Phillies minor league group took on a team Thursday afternoon on Robin Roberts Field from Oakton Community College, located just outside of Chicago in Des Plains Illinois.

Two of our favorite Phillies minor league prospects, center fielder Carlos De La Cruz and right fielder Ben Pelletier put on a show for us.

De La Cruz, hit a RBI single up the middle to drive in a run, watch HERE. Then Pelletier took an easy swing and homered off the Roberts Field scoreboard in left center. Watch HERE.

Then we went over to Ashburn Field where the high A Phillies were taking on their counterparts from the Toronto Blue Jays.

There, second baseman Grenny Cumana drove a ball off the pitcher’s leg and beat it out for a single. Watch HERE. In a rare play in any baseball game, Cumana would advance to second on a fielder choice and then on the next play tagged up and scored on a sacrifice fly to deep right center. The center fielder caught the long drive off the bat of first baseman Quincy Nieporte but fell over in doing so. Grenny would hustle and score all the way from second base.

Greg Pickett

The DH, Greg Pickett, alway does well when we watch him. He lined a rbi single up the middle in the game. Watch HERE.

Another star of the game was pitcher Jakob Hernandez who came on in the eight inning with two outs and two on to protect a 10-5 win for the Phillies. He proceeded to strikeout the final batter in the eight inning and then added three more strikeouts in the ninth helped by excellent pitch framing by catcher Rodolfo Duran. Watch HERE. We watched Hernandez pitch for the GCL Phillies last season after he was taken in the 21st round of the June draft.

All in all, it was a great day for Phillies minor league baseball. Some of the favorites we followed last year with the Clearwater Threshers, the GCL Phillies and in Fall Instructs came up big in the minor league games.

Advertisements

]]>https://baseballross.wordpress.com/2018/03/15/phillies-standout-players-in-a-ball-action/feed/0baseballrossJiandido Tromp, Zach Green, Seranthony Dominguez, Darick Hall, Jan Hernandez and Enyel De Los Santos Standout in Today’s Phillies Minor League Gameshttps://baseballross.wordpress.com/2018/03/14/jiandido-tromp-zach-green-seranthony-dominguez-darick-hall-jan-hernandez-and-enyel-de-los-santos-standout-in-todays-phillies-minor-league-games/
https://baseballross.wordpress.com/2018/03/14/jiandido-tromp-zach-green-seranthony-dominguez-darick-hall-jan-hernandez-and-enyel-de-los-santos-standout-in-todays-phillies-minor-league-games/#respondThu, 15 Mar 2018 01:23:11 +0000http://baseballross.wordpress.com/?p=6039Continue reading →]]>It was the minor league teams of the Atlanta Braves that took on the Phillies today. The A ball teams played in Kissimmee near Disney World and the AA and AAA teams played at the Carpenter Complex

Jiandido Tromp

It was cold and windy this afternoon in Clearwater with the wind coming out of the northwest. In the AAA game Jiandido Tromp took an outside pitch down the right field line and the wind took it out just fair for a three-run homer, watch HERE. Tromp also made an outstanding running, sliding catch in left as the wind blew the ball away from him saving a run. Zach Green hit a line drive down the left field line for a double on Roberts Field. Watch HERE.

Over on Schmidt Field in the AA game Darick Hall used the wind blowing out to right to hit a tape measure home run for the AA team. Jan Hernandez hit a drive that went over the right fielder head for a ground rule double. Watch Jan’s double, HERE.

On the mound in the AAA game, Jose Taveras started strong in the first inning similar to Franklyn Kilome in yesterday’s game striking out two. Again just like Franklyn did in yesterday’s game, Jose struggled in the second inning of today’s game. Taveras gave up four runs on four hits while Kilome struggled with control walking three and allowing a run in the second inning.

One pitcher who continues to standout is Enyel De Los Santos who stood out in the AA game. Watch a strike out HERE. De Los Santos was picked up in the Freddy Galvis deal with the Padres.

In the AAA game, Seranthony Dominguez pitched a strong one inning of relief just coming down from the major league camp. Watch HERE.

In Thursday games the Phillies minor league team will have a rematch with the Blue Jays minor league teams with A ball level teams playing at the Carpenter Complex and the AA and AAA teams meeting up on the Blue Jays fields four miles or so up the road in Dunedin.

For more details of all Phillies minor league spring training games each day, checkout the Lakewood BlueClaws site HERE.

Advertisements

]]>https://baseballross.wordpress.com/2018/03/14/jiandido-tromp-zach-green-seranthony-dominguez-darick-hall-jan-hernandez-and-enyel-de-los-santos-standout-in-todays-phillies-minor-league-games/feed/0baseballrossThe Phillies Minor League Relief Pitchers Ranfi Casimiro and Edgar Garcia Showed Today That They Are Major League Prospectshttps://baseballross.wordpress.com/2018/03/13/the-phillies-minor-league-relief-pitchers-ranfi-casimiro-and-edgar-garcia-showed-today-that-they-are-major-league-prospects/
https://baseballross.wordpress.com/2018/03/13/the-phillies-minor-league-relief-pitchers-ranfi-casimiro-and-edgar-garcia-showed-today-that-they-are-major-league-prospects/#respondWed, 14 Mar 2018 02:41:15 +0000http://baseballross.wordpress.com/?p=6031Continue reading →]]>I grew up watching “groundball” Ed Roebuck pitch for the Phillies back in 1964 and 1965. Whenever the Phillies needed a double play in a key point in the game, Manager Gene Mauch would call in Ed Roebuck and it seemed a ground ball double play would result.

The Phillies almost won the National League pennant in 1964 with “groundball” Eddie coming out of the pen in key situations to induce the double play. As we know the pennant was not to be that year but I will never forget Ed Roebuck and his grand ball double plays.

Our very good friend, Ranfi Casimiro, is becoming a ground ball specialist of his own out of the pen. He induced a 6-4-3 double play late in the game for his Dominican Republic team to help win a key game in the Caribbean Series last month.

On Tuesday he made his debut as a Phillies reliever in a spring training game and induced another important ground ball double play., This time it was a 4-6-3 DP to end the top of the ninth to maintain a 3-3 tie game with the Tampa Bay Rays at Spectrum Field.

Watch how the double play inducing ball drops in the following three screenshots:

It bought enough time for Jesmuel Valentin to hit a two out, walk off, three run homer in the bottom of the ninth to give Ranfi the win.

It has been a long trip in the Phillies system for Ranfi , now in his eight season in the organization. He pitched mostly as a starter prior to last season. He has never pitched above AA. Now, he is becoming a late inning, ground ball, double play, relief specialist.

If Ranfi can continue to refine this skill, a major league team will come calling just as they did with “ground ball” Ed Roebuck for his 11 MLB seasons with the Dodger, Senators and Phillies.

Watch these three stills of the downward tilt of Casimiro’s pitch for the ground ball, double play in Tuesday’s game.

Over at the Carpenter Complex on Schmidt Field another friend of ours, Edgar Garcia, came on with the bases loaded in the second inning in the start of minor league spring training games. He struck out a Blue Jay to get out of the inning, Edgar would go on and get two more strikeouts in the third inning. The only baserunner he allowed was a walk to the Jays top Prospect,Vladimir Guerrero Jr., in the third inning.

Remember, Ranfi Casimiro and Edgar Garcia out of the pen. They each put on a show with major league skill sets for us in spring training games on Tuesday.

Advertisements

]]>https://baseballross.wordpress.com/2018/03/13/the-phillies-minor-league-relief-pitchers-ranfi-casimiro-and-edgar-garcia-showed-today-that-they-are-major-league-prospects/feed/0baseballrossThe Phillies’ future is now with players like Medina, Singer, Hall, De La Cruz and Pelletierhttps://baseballross.wordpress.com/2018/03/10/6026/
https://baseballross.wordpress.com/2018/03/10/6026/#respondSun, 11 Mar 2018 04:11:59 +0000http://baseballross.wordpress.com/?p=6026Continue reading →]]>I like to live in the future. For me as a Phillies fan, the future Saturday afternoon was not over at Spectrum Field where the Phillies were losing to the Rays, but on the backfields of the Carpenter Complex.

There, I could watch the likes of Adonis Medina pitch and dominate minor league bats and even a major league bat. Darick Hall drive an frozen rope two-run homer over the right field wall and turn around in the next second and watch the best young outfielder in Quebec, Ben Pelletier drive a line drive base hit on the adjacent field. Then watch Carlos De La Cruz hit another tape measure shot over the left field fence. And comeback to the first field to watch lefty reliever Jeff Singer come out of the pen and strikeout Hall.

Ben Pelletier and Carlos De La Cruz check the line up card

Here, I could visualize a better Phillies team in the future than the one that the will be on the field when the major league baseball season opens at the end of this month.

It gives me hope that in some season soon the Phillies will again be the team to beat in the National League East.

Medina is a young 21-year-old who is currently ranked as the 4th best prospect in the Phillies system by MLBPipline after pitching to a 3.o1 ERA and striking out 133 in 119.2 inning for Lakewood last year. Watch him in today’s game HERE.

Hall led the SAL with Lakewood last season in home runs. The first baseman ended the season with Clearwater and combined to hit 29 home runs and drove in 101 runs. Watch his home run in today’s intra squad game on Ashburn Field, HERE.

Left fielder. Pelletier is a native of Quebec. And probably the best young corner outfielder from Canada. He is only 19 and will not turn 20 years old until August. He hit .333 in the Gulf Coast League in 2017. Watch his hit HERE.

A right fielder De La Cruz was signed by the Phillies back on August 23 of last year and he will not turn 19 until October 6th so his strikeouts can be understood. He has a knack for hitting long balls so far in the intra squad games. In his first game on Thursday he stoked a long homer into a grove of trees down the left field line on Schmidt Field. Saturday, he hit another round tripper on the same field. This time into a grove of trees farther out in left center. Watch HERE.

Singer is one of the top left-handed relievers in the Phillies farm system. He showed how he does it in Saturday’s game when he struck out Hall. Watch HERE.

The future looks bright for the Phillies from the talent we saw on the field Saturday at the Carpenter Complex.

Advertisements

]]>https://baseballross.wordpress.com/2018/03/10/6026/feed/0baseballrossJoJo Romero, McKenzie Mills and Kyle Young Are Phillies Left-handed Starters Of The Futurehttps://baseballross.wordpress.com/2018/03/09/jojo-romero-mackenzie-mills-and-kyle-young-are-phillies-left-handed-starters-of-the-future/
https://baseballross.wordpress.com/2018/03/09/jojo-romero-mackenzie-mills-and-kyle-young-are-phillies-left-handed-starters-of-the-future/#commentsSat, 10 Mar 2018 02:53:38 +0000http://baseballross.wordpress.com/?p=6022Continue reading →]]>It has been along time since a left-hander has started a game for the Phillies. No lefty started a game for the Phillies in 2017. Now a reliever, Adam Morgan was the last lefty to start a game in September of 2016. As things stand right now the team still has no lefty starter on its 40-man roster for the 2018 season.

The Phillies have a long history of left-handed starters from Curt Simmons of the Whiz Kids days to Chris Short in the 1960’s to Steve Carlton in the 80’s and Cole Hamels most recently, the Phillies have had some of the best southpaw starters in baseballs. But not now.

So today was a special day at the Carpenter Complex for the Phillies as they paraded out three left-handers in an intra-squad game on Ashburn Field. They were Jo Jo Romano, McKenzie Mills and Kyle Young. They all could be in the running to break the long stretch of exclusive right-handed starters on the major league team.

The 21-year-old Romero, a fourth round draft pick in 2016 is the favorite. In a season and half in the Phillies system he has a 12-5 record in 33 starts after stops in Williamsport in 2016 and Lakewood and Clearwater in 2017. He did nothing to change his front runner status today by striking out the side in his first inning of work. Watch HERE.

Mills is 22-years-old and was acquired from the Washington Nationals last season in the Howie Kendrick deal. He had a breakout season with Hagerstown in the SAL with a 12-2 record where struck out 118 in 104,2 innings. He struck out one is his first inning of work. Watch his first inning HERE.

Kyle Young

The 20-year-old Young was drafted in the 22nd round of the 2016 draft. He is listed at 6’10” but looks taller. He had a big season with Williamsport in 2017 going 7-2 in 13 starts with a 2.77. striking out 72 in 65 innings. He struck out two in his one inning of work in today’s game. Watch HERE.

The Phillies do have left-handed starters on the way. The only question is when will they arrive on the 25-man roster. Today on a back field in Clearwater in an inter squad game was a preview of who they might be.

Advertisements

]]>https://baseballross.wordpress.com/2018/03/09/jojo-romero-mackenzie-mills-and-kyle-young-are-phillies-left-handed-starters-of-the-future/feed/1baseballrossGrapefruit, Exhibition and Intrasquad Games Kept All the Phillies And Fans Busy This Afternoonhttps://baseballross.wordpress.com/2018/03/08/grapefruit-exhibition-and-intrasquad-games-kept-all-the-phillies-and-fans-busy-this-afternoon/
https://baseballross.wordpress.com/2018/03/08/grapefruit-exhibition-and-intrasquad-games-kept-all-the-phillies-and-fans-busy-this-afternoon/#respondFri, 09 Mar 2018 03:21:52 +0000http://baseballross.wordpress.com/?p=6013Continue reading →]]>The likely Phillies starting lineup was kept back on Ashburn Field late in the morning taking batting practice (se pictures of batting practice on Betsy’s blog HERE.) while likely major league bench and AAA players were over at Steinbrenner Field in Tampa. They defeated the Yankees 7-6. Read HERE.

Two intrasquad games matching in one game players from AAA and AA and in the other game made up of A ball level players from last season and a few rookies took place this afternoon on Ashburn and Schmidt Fields at the Carpenter Complex.

Over 200 players of the Phillies organization are now in camp playing to make an impression on the Phillies coaches and front office staff watching them.

At the same time, a select team of the top Phillies minor league talent took on the Villanova Wildcats who are traveling around Florida in an exhibition game at Spectrum Field. The young Phillies pulled out a 5-1 win.

The highlight of the A ball level game was young phenom Carlos De la Cruz hitting a long home run to left off of Jose Taveras on Schmidt Field.

Carlos De La Cruz hits a homer off of Jose Taveras. Look closely to see the ball go into a tree just over the left arm of De La Cruz

In the game on Ashburn Field made up of players likely to play in AAA and AA, it was a RBI hit by Wilson Garcia off of Franklyn Kilome that stood out early in the game. Watch HERE.

With the return of catcher Edgar Cabral from the major league camp, Willy returned from catching where he was working out to his first base position where he played last season for the Clearwater Threshers.

Later in the game Reading’s first baseman from last season, Kyle Martin, hit a line drive double down the right field line but was thrown out trying to stretch it into a triple. Watch HERE.

Right fielder Jan Hernandez drove in the winning run on Ashburn Field late in the game with a long sacrifice fly to left. Watch HERE.

All in all it was the busiest day of Phillies spring training so far from the top to bottom of the Phillies organization. It was a challenge for us fans to try to keep up with all the action!

Advertisements

]]>https://baseballross.wordpress.com/2018/03/08/grapefruit-exhibition-and-intrasquad-games-kept-all-the-phillies-and-fans-busy-this-afternoon/feed/0baseballrossPhillies Recent No. 1 Draft Picks Cornelius Randolph, Mickey Moniak and Adam Haseley Need To Start Producinghttps://baseballross.wordpress.com/2018/03/07/phillies-recent-no-1-draft-picks-cornelius-randolph-mickey-moniak-and-adam-haseley-need-to-start-producing/
https://baseballross.wordpress.com/2018/03/07/phillies-recent-no-1-draft-picks-cornelius-randolph-mickey-moniak-and-adam-haseley-need-to-start-producing/#respondThu, 08 Mar 2018 04:02:07 +0000http://baseballross.wordpress.com/?p=6003Continue reading →]]>The Phillies need to hit on their most recent first round draft picks and on an international signing. So far, the jury is still out on Cornelius Randolph (2015), Mickey Moniak (2016) and Adam Haseley (2017) first round picks. All of them are outfielders and bat left-handed. Randolph played mostly in left, Moniak in center and Haseley in center and some in left.

Randolph’s OPS in the Florida State League was .740 (12th of 44 qualifying hitters in the FSL). In the major leagues a .740 OPS would have place him 108th of 144 qualifying players in 2017.

Mickey Moniak and Jose Pujols

Moniak had an OPS of .625 in the South Atlantic League last year placing him 53rd of 64 qualifying players. Lakewood’s first baseman Darick Hall led the SAL with an .872 OPS. Hall had a better OPS than did Ryan Howard with Lakewood in 2002 when he had a .828 OPS.

Adam Haseley in spring training BP

In 58 games in 2017 primarily in the NY-Penn League but also games in the GCL and SAL, Haseley had a .761 OPS combined after becoming the Phillies first round draft pick in June of 2017. Watch him take a recent spring training batting practice HERE.

The Phillies seem to be reserving right field for an international signing from July 2015, the right-handed hitting Jhailyn Ortiz, who had a .961 OPS in 47 games in the half season NY-Penn League last year. He would have been first in the League in OPS had he had enough at bats to qualify. So the 2018 season will be very important for the 19-year-old and the Phillies.

If you are coming to spring training, visit the minor league camp to check out Randolph, Moniak, Haseley and Ortiz. They are important to the Phillies future. Three weeks of minor league spring training games start on Tuesday, March 13th against the teams of the Toronto Blue Jays.